Medical Education and the Ethics of Self-Care: A Survey of Medical Students Regarding Professional Challenges and Expectations for Living Healthy Lifestyles

BACKGROUND During the COVID-19 pandemic in person medical education at the University Medical Center Göttingen was restricted, making a rapid expansion of novel tools for digital education necessary. For the first time at our university medical center an Instagram account was developed as a tool for medical education and used as a supplementation for the Hematology and Medical Oncology teaching module of 2020/21. OBJECTIVE We aimed to evaluate the acceptance and role of Instagram as a novel teaching format in the education of medical students in hematology and medical oncology in the German medical curriculum. METHODS To investigate the role of Instagram in student education of hematology and medical oncology, an Instagram account was developed as a tie-in for the teaching module of 2020/21. The account was launched with the beginning of the teaching module and 43 posts were added over the 47 days of the teaching module (at least one post a day). Five categories for content were established: 1) engagement, 2) self-awareness, 3) everyday clinical life combined with teaching aids, 4) teaching aids and 5) scientific resources. Student interaction with the posts was measured on the basis of overall subscription, “likes”, comments and polls. RESULTS 119 (73%) medical students subscribed to the Instagram account showing high acceptance and interest in the use of Instagram for medical education. 43 posts generated 325 interactions. The highest number of interactions was observed for the category “engagement” (15.17 interactions (5.01 SD)) followed by “self-awareness” (14.00 interactions (7.79 SD)). Averaging 7.3 “likes” per post, the interaction was relatively low. However, although the category “scientific resources” garnered the least likes (1.86 (1.81 SD) “likes”) of all categories, 66% of participants in the poll were interested in studies and reviews, suggesting that although “likes” help to estimate a general trend of interest, there are facets to interests that cannot be represented by likes. In the conducted Instagram polls 59% of 34 students stated they would prefer more humorous content, 96% of 56 wanted more posts about everyday clinical life, 66% of 41 more information about reviews and studies, 96% of 51 more mnemonics, and 100% of 49 were interested in more content on sensitive topics such as self-care. CONCLUSIONS Instagram showed a high acceptance among medical students participating in the hematology and oncology teaching curriculum. Students were mostly interested in posts pertaining to routine clinical life, self-care topics and memory aids. More studies need to be conducted to comprehend the use of Instagram in medical education and to define the role Instagram is going to play in the future. Furthermore, evaluation guidelines and tools need to be developed.

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Self-care of Caregivers: Self-Compassion in a Population of Dutch Medical Students and Residents

MedEdPublish ◽

10.15694/mep.2020.000222.1 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Juliet Godthelp ◽

Maaike Muntinga ◽

Theo Niessen ◽

Piet Leguit ◽

Tineke Abma

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Self Care ◽

Self Compassion

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Patient consent to medical students in general practice

British Journal of General Practice ◽

10.3399/bjgp18x697229 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 68 (suppl 1) ◽

pp. bjgp18X697229

Author(s):

Matthew Webb ◽

Sarah Thirlwall ◽

Bob McKinley

Keyword(s):

Medical Education ◽

General Practice ◽

Medical Students ◽

Medical School ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Teaching Quality ◽

School Students ◽

Patient Journey ◽

Patient Consent ◽

High Level

BackgroundInformed consent is required for active participation of patients in medical education. At Keele Medical School, we require practices to advertise that they teach undergraduate students and to obtain appropriate patient consent at various stages of the patient journey.AimThe study aimed to explore patients’ experience of consent to involvement in undergraduate medical education in general practice.MethodDuring the final year at Keele University Medical School, students undertake a patient satisfaction survey. A questionnaire was attached to the reverse of this survey during the academic year 2016–2017. The questionnaire explored the stage of the patient journey consent was obtained, whether they were offered an alternative appointment and how comfortable they were with medical students being involved in their care.ResultsA total of 489 questionnaires were completed covering 62 GP practices. 97% of patients reported that consent was obtained at least once during their encounter and the majority reported that this occurred at booking. 98% of patients were comfortable or very comfortable with a medical student leading their consultation. However, 28% of those surveyed stated that they were either not given the option of not seeing the student or there was no other alternative appointment available.ConclusionThe results indicate that in the vast majority of cases patient consent is obtained at least once during their attendance. Patients expressed a high level of satisfaction with medical students’ involvement in their care. Further work is required to evaluate the role of the data as a marker of individual practice teaching quality.

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The Duties of Doctors In Medical Education: A Letter To The Editor (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.16418 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Sneha Barai

Keyword(s):

Medical Education ◽

Medical Students ◽

Role Models ◽

Role Model ◽

General Medical Council ◽

Future Generations ◽

Medical Council ◽

Positive Role ◽

The Uk ◽

And Training

UNSTRUCTURED The UK General Medical Council (GMC) explicitly states doctors have a duty to ‘contribute to teaching and training…by acting as a positive role model’. However, recent studies suggest some are not fulfilling this, which is impacting medical students' experiences and attitudes during their training. As such, doctors have a duty to act as role models and teachers, as specified by the GMC, which it seems are not currently being fulfilled. This would improve the medical students’ learning experiences and demonstrate good professional values for them to emulate. Therefore, these duties should be as important as patient care, since this will influence future generations.

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Required Longitudinal Service-Learning and Its Effects on Medical Students’ Attitudes Toward the Underserved

Medical Science Educator ◽

10.1007/s40670-021-01350-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Monica Rose Arebalos ◽

Faun Lee Botor ◽

Edward Simanton ◽

Jennifer Young

Keyword(s):

Medical Education ◽

Medical Students ◽

Service Learning ◽

Student Attitudes ◽

Underserved Populations ◽

Preclinical Phase ◽

School Of Medicine ◽

Students Attitudes ◽

Medical Student Attitudes ◽

The University

AbstractAlthough medical students enter medicine with altruistic motives and seek to serve indigent populations, studies show that medical students’ attitudes towards the undeserved tend to worsen significantly as they go through their medical education. This finding emphasizes the need for medical educators to implement activities such as service-learning that may help mitigate this negative trend.All students at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) School of Medicine are required to participate in longitudinal service-learning throughout medical school, and a majority of students interact with the underserved at their service-learning sites. Using the previously validated Medical Student Attitudes Towards the Underserved (MSATU), independent sample T-tests showed that students who interact with underserved populations at their sites scored with significantly better attitudes towards the underserved at the end of their preclinical phase. Subjects included 58 medical students with 100% taking the MSATU. This result indicates that longitudinal service-learning, particularly when it includes interaction with the underserved, can be one method to combat the worsening of medical students’ attitudes as they complete their medical education.

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Artificial intelligence-based education assists medical students’ interpretation of hip fracture

Insights into Imaging ◽

10.1186/s13244-020-00932-0 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Chi-Tung Cheng ◽

Chih-Chi Chen ◽

Chih-Yuan Fu ◽

Chung-Hsien Chaou ◽

Yu-Tung Wu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Artificial Intelligence ◽

Medical Education ◽

Hip Fracture ◽

Medical Students ◽

Medical Image ◽

Learning System ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Dynamic Collaboration ◽

Increase In Accuracy ◽

Image Learning

Abstract Background With recent transformations in medical education, the integration of technology to improve medical students’ abilities has become feasible. Artificial intelligence (AI) has impacted several aspects of healthcare. However, few studies have focused on medical education. We performed an AI-assisted education study and confirmed that AI can accelerate trainees’ medical image learning. Materials We developed an AI-based medical image learning system to highlight hip fracture on a plain pelvic film. Thirty medical students were divided into a conventional (CL) group and an AI-assisted learning (AIL) group. In the CL group, the participants received a prelearning test and a postlearning test. In the AIL group, the participants received another test with AI-assisted education before the postlearning test. Then, we analyzed changes in diagnostic accuracy. Results The prelearning performance was comparable in both groups. In the CL group, postlearning accuracy (78.66 ± 14.53) was higher than prelearning accuracy (75.86 ± 11.36) with no significant difference (p = .264). The AIL group showed remarkable improvement. The WithAI score (88.87 ± 5.51) was significantly higher than the prelearning score (75.73 ± 10.58, p < 0.01). Moreover, the postlearning score (84.93 ± 14.53) was better than the prelearning score (p < 0.01). The increase in accuracy was significantly higher in the AIL group than in the CL group. Conclusion The study demonstrated the viability of AI for augmenting medical education. Integrating AI into medical education requires dynamic collaboration from research, clinical, and educational perspectives.

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The impact of integrating environmental health into medical school curricula: a survey-based study

BMC Medical Education ◽

10.1186/s12909-020-02458-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Benjamin Kligler ◽

Genevieve Pinto Zipp ◽

Carmela Rocchetti ◽

Michelle Secic ◽

Erin Speiser Ihde

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Medical Education ◽

Medical Students ◽

Medical School ◽

Environmental Health ◽

School Curriculum ◽

Learning Objectives ◽

Lead Contamination ◽

Institute Of Medicine ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background Inclusion of environmental health (EH) in medical education serves as a catalyst for preparing future physicians to address issues as complex as climate change and health, water pollution and lead contamination. However, previous research has found EH education to be largely lacking in U.S. medical education, putting future physicians at risk of not having the expertise to address patients’ environmental illnesses, nor speak to prevention. Methods Environmental health (EH) knowledge and skills were incorporated into the first-year medical school curriculum at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine (Nutley, New Jersey), via a two-hour interactive large group learning module with follow up activities. Students completed the Environmental Health in Med School (EHMS) survey before and after the year 1 EH module. This survey evaluates medical students’ attitudes, awareness and professionalism regarding environmental health. In year 2, students completed the Environmental Health Survey II, which measured students’ perceptions of preparedness to discuss EH with future patients. The research team created both surveys based upon learning objectives that broadly aligned with the Institute of Medicine six competency-based environmental health learning objectives. Results 36 year 1 students completed both the pre and post EHMS surveys. McNemar’s test was used for paired comparisons. Results identified no statistically significant changes from pre to post surveys, identifying a dramatic ceiling. When comparing year 2, EHS II pre-survey (n = 84) and post-survey (n = 79) responses, a statistically significant positive change in students’ self-reported sense of preparedness to discuss environmental health with their patients following the curriculum intervention was noted. Conclusions Our conclusion for the EHMS in Year 1 was that the current generation of medical students at this school is already extremely aware of and concerned about the impact of environmental issues on health. Through the EHS II in Year 2, we found that the six-week environmental health module combining didactic and experiential elements significantly increased medical students’ self-reported sense of preparedness to discuss environmental health issues, including climate change, with their patients.

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Medical education challenges and innovations during COVID-19 pandemic

Postgraduate Medical Journal ◽

10.1136/postgradmedj-2021-140032 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. postgradmedj-2021-140032

Author(s):

Michail Papapanou ◽

Eleni Routsi ◽

Konstantinos Tsamakis ◽

Lampros Fotis ◽

Georgios Marinos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Education ◽

Medical Students ◽

Student Assessment ◽

Well Being ◽

Educational Institutions ◽

Healthcare Staff ◽

Academic Trajectories ◽

Traditional Structure ◽

Physical Presence ◽

The Impact

COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly disrupted the well-established, traditional structure of medical education. Τhe new limitations of physical presence have accelerated the development of an online learning environment, comprising both of asynchronous and synchronous distance education, and the introduction of novel ways of student assessment. At the same time, this prolonged crisis had serious implications on the lives of medical students including their psychological well-being and the impact on their academic trajectories. The new reality has, on many occasions, triggered the ‘acting up’ of medical students as frontline healthcare staff, which has been perceived by many of them as a positive learning and contributing experience, and has led to a variety of responses from the educational institutions. All things considered, the urgency for rapid and novel adaptations to the new circumstances has functioned as a springboard for remarkable innovations in medical education,including the promotion of a more “evidence-based” approach.

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Structural Barriers to Student Disability Disclosure in US-Allopathic Medical Schools

Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development ◽

10.1177/23821205211018696 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

pp. 238212052110186

Author(s):

Lisa M Meeks ◽

Ben Case ◽

Erene Stergiopoulos ◽

Brianna K Evans ◽

Kristina H Petersen

Keyword(s):

Medical Education ◽

Medical Students ◽

Students With Disabilities ◽

Class Size ◽

Medical Schools ◽

Organizational Characteristics ◽

School Level ◽

Student Diversity ◽

Structural Barriers ◽

Disability Disclosure

Introduction: Leaders in medical education have expressed a commitment to increase medical student diversity, including those with disabilities. Despite this commitment there exists a large gap in the number of medical students self-reporting disability in anonymous demographic surveys and those willing to disclose and request accommodations at a school level. Structural elements for disclosing and requesting disability accommodations have been identified as a main barrier for students with disabilities in medical education, yet school-level practices for student disclosure at US-MD programs have not been studied. Methods: In August 2020, a survey seeking to ascertain institutional disability disclosure structure was sent to student affairs deans at LCME fully accredited medical schools. Survey responses were coded according to their alignment with considerations from the AAMC report on disability and analyzed for any associations with the AAMC Organizational Characteristics Database and class size. Results: Disability disclosure structures were collected for 98 of 141 eligible schools (70% response rate). Structures for disability disclosure varied among the 98 respondent schools. Sixty-four (65%) programs maintained a disability disclosure structure in alignment with AAMC considerations; 34 (35%) did not. No statistically significant relationships were identified between disability disclosure structures and AAMC organizational characteristics or class size. Discussion: Thirty-five percent of LCME fully accredited MD program respondents continue to employ structures of disability disclosure that do not align with the considerations offered in the AAMC report. This structural non-alignment has been identified as a major barrier for medical students to accessing accommodations and may disincentivize disability disclosure. Meeting the stated calls for diversity will require schools to consider structural barriers that marginalize students with disabilities and make appropriate adjustments to their services to improve access.

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Incorporating patient safety into early undergraduate medical education: teaching medical students to perform surgical time outs during anatomy

BMJ Open Quality ◽

10.1136/bmjoq-2020-001229 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. e001229

Author(s):

Abdul-Rahman M Suleiman ◽

Daniel Amarasinghe ◽

Priya Kathuria ◽

Jacob Vandel ◽

Jordan Holloway ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Education ◽

Patient Safety ◽

Medical Students ◽

Gross Anatomy ◽

First Year ◽

Surgical Time ◽

Surgical Safety ◽

Wayne State University ◽

Time Out ◽

Surgical Errors

ObjectivesTo introduce surgical safety checklists and time outs to future physicians through early incorporation of time outs in the first year gross anatomy course.SettingThe Wayne State University School of Medicine Anatomy Lab.ParticipantsApproximately 300 first year medical students per year participated in the intervention.InterventionsAn educational presentation on medical errors focusing on surgical errors was developed. Students in 2017–2018 viewed the presentation and completed two time outs, one with the first anatomy dissection and a second with the last dissection. Preintervention and postintervention surveys were completed and results compared. Students completed a second postintervention survey after the second time out. Students in 2018–2019 were asked to complete the time outs before every dissection. Time out procedure sheets were collected to determine completion rates. The intervention was further modified for academic year 2019–2020 and time out sheets were again collected.Outcome measuresFour domains of learning were surveyed: (1) major components and goals/limitations of universal protocol, (2) medical error lexicon, (3) components of a time out, and (4) confidence in completing time out checklists.ResultsPostintervention surveys demonstrated significant improvement in each domain. Students found time outs easy to complete and developed confidence in performing time outs. Following a successful pilot, time outs were incorporated into every dissection. Students continued to perform this procedure despite absence of adverse consequences for not doing so.ConclusionStudents found the time outs easy to complete and developed the confidence and ability to perform a surgical time out early in their medical education. The new skills, knowledge and attitudes that these medical students have developed will hopefully improve the care they provide to patients, thereby advancing the practice of quality improvement and patient safety in the clinical setting.

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